Replacement and priming of fluid-ejection device fluid supplies

ABSTRACT

When a first fluid supply of a fluid-ejection device is empty and a second fluid supply of the device has a non-empty fluid amount less than a threshold, the device performs an action related to the second fluid supply. After the action has been performed and both the first and second fluid supplies have been replaced, the device primes the first and second fluid supplies. The action can include emptying the second fluid supply, and then messaging that both the fluid supplies require replacement. The action can include messaging that both fluid supplies require replacement although the second fluid supply is not empty. The action can include not messaging even that the first fluid supply requires replacement until the second fluid supply also becomes empty.

BACKGROUND

Fluid-ejection devices can include inkjet-printing devices.Inkjet-printing devices selectively output ink onto media like paper toform images on the media. Inkjet-printing devices can have ink of theconstituent colors of a color space, as well as black ink, to form fullcolor images on media. For example, the ink supplies of aninkjet-printing device can include cyan ink, magenta ink, yellow ink,and black ink so that the device can print full-color images.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example inkjet-printing device.

FIGS. 2, 3, 4, and 5 are flowcharts of example methods.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As noted in the background, inkjet-printing devices are one type offluid-ejection device, and can print full-color images using inksupplies of different colors. In some types of inkjet-printing devices,an ink supply may be part of an inkjet cartridge that also includes theinkjet printhead by which ink is ejected, or jetted, onto media. Inother types of inkjet-printing devices, an ink supply may be separatefrom any inkjet printhead, and may be either external or internal to thedevice.

When an ink supply of an inkjet-printing device is replaced, the devicemay have to prime the ink supply. Priming the ink supply can includeusing an air pump to cause removal of any air or other gas introducedinto the ink path of the device during supply replacement. Priming theink supply depletes a small amount of ink from the ink supply. However,if priming is not performed, then print quality can suffer, because airmay be intermittently ejected from the inkjet printhead instead of ink,until the air has been exhausted from the device in this manner.

Some types of inkjet-printing devices have separately replaceable inksupplies. For example, a black ink supply may be separately replaceablefrom a cartridge including ink supplies of the other colors of ink, suchas cyan, magenta, and yellow ink. As another example, the color inksupplies may also be separately replaceable. For instance, the cyan inksupply may be replaced without having to also replace the magenta,yellow, and black ink supplies.

Some types of inkjet-printing devices may have an air pump thatsimultaneously primes all the ink supplies. Such an inkjet-printingdevice may be unable to prime one ink supply without also priming atleast one other ink supply, even if priming of the latter ink supply isunnecessary. For example, even if just the cyan ink supply has beennewly replaced, priming the cyan ink supply may also result in primingof the magenta, yellow, and black ink supplies, although these lattersupplies have not been replaced and thus do not need priming.

In such an inkjet-printing device, the follow scenario can occur. Afirst ink supply of an inkjet-printing device may become empty. Thedevice may message a user that the first ink supply requiresreplacement, and the user responsively replaces the first ink supplywith a fresh supply within the device. When the inkjet-printing deviceprimes the first ink supply, such priming also results in a second inksupply of the device being primed.

However, the second ink supply may be near empty at the time primingoccurs, and priming of the second ink supply may result in the secondink supply becoming empty. After performing priming of the ink supplies,therefore, the device may then message the user that the second inksupply now requires replacement. Thus, rather than the user beingnotified to replace both the first and second ink supplies at the sametime, the user first is notified and correspondingly replaces the firstink supply, and during priming is then notified and has tocorrespondingly replace the second supply, too.

Techniques disclosed herein improve the user experience in thisscenario, so that the user is not requested in short succession toreplace ink supplies. When a first ink supply of an inkjet-printingdevice is empty and a second ink supply of the device has a non-emptyfluid amount less than a threshold, the device performs an action priorto priming both ink supplies once the ink supplies have been replaced.For example, the inkjet-printing device may message the user that bothink supplies require replacement, even though the second ink supply isnot yet empty.

As another example, the inkjet-printing device may proactively empty thesecond ink supply by performing a servicing or other action, and thenmessage the user that both ink supplies now require replacement. As athird example, the device may continue printing images on media eventhough the first ink supply is empty, and without messaging the userthat first ink supply is empty, until the second ink supply also becomesempty as a result of such image formation. Two or more of thesetechniques can also be combined.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an example inkjet-printing device 100.The inkjet-printing device 100 may be a standalone inkjet printer, anall-in-one (AIO) device that includes inkjet printing as well as otherfunctionality such as scanning, copying, or faxing, and so on. Theinkjet-printing device 100 ejects or jets ink onto media, such as paper,to form images on the media. More generally, the inkjet-printing device100 is a fluid-ejection device that ejects fluid.

The inkjet-printing device 100 can include inkjet cartridges 102A, 102B,. . . , 102N, which are collectively referred to as the inkjetcartridges 102. The inkjet cartridges 102 respectively include inksupplies 104A, 104B, . . . , 104N, which are collectively referred to asthe ink supplies 104, as well as inkjet printheads 106A, 106B, . . . ,106N, which are collectively referred to as the inkjet printheads 106.An inkjet printhead 106 can include nozzles on a printhead die thatselectively output ink from a corresponding ink supply 104. The inksupplies 104 are more generally fluid supplies, and the inkjetprintheads 106 are more generally fluid-ejection mechanisms thatselectively eject fluid of a corresponding fluid supply from the device100.

In the example of FIG. 1, each ink supply 104 is included within aninkjet cartridge 102 together with a corresponding inkjet printhead 106.Therefore, replacing an inkjet cartridge 102 within the inkjet-printingdevice 100 results in replacement of both an ink supply 104 and aprinthead 106. In another implementation, however, the ink supplies 104may be separate from the inkjet printheads 106, so that the ink supplies104 can be replaced separately from their corresponding printheads 106.

In the example of FIG. 1, each inkjet cartridge 102 includes one inksupply 104. For instance, there may be an inkjet cartridge 102 having acyan ink supply 104, another inkjet cartridge 102 having a yellow inksupply 104, a third inkjet cartridge 102 having a magenta ink supply104, and a fourth inkjet cartridge 102 having a black ink supply 104. Inanother implementation, however, an inkjet cartridge 102 may includemore than one ink supply 104, and the inkjet printhead 106 of thecartridge 102 may be responsible for outputting ink from each of theseink supplies 104. For instance, there may be a color inkjet cartridge102 having cyan, yellow, and magenta ink supplies 104. In this scenario,there may still be a separate black inkjet cartridge 102 having a blackink supply 104.

In the example of FIG. 1, the ink supplies 104 are internal to theinkjet-printing device 100, and the inkjet cartridges 106 include boththe ink supplies 104 and the printheads 106. For instance, the inkjetcartridges 102 of which the ink supplies 104 are a part may be removablyinserted into the printing device 100. In other implementations, the inksupplies 104 may be separate from the printheads 106, and the inksupplies 104 may also be external to the device 100. In the latter case,tubing or other fluidic connections can connect the external inksupplies 104 to their corresponding inkjet printhead(s) 106 within theinkjet-printing device 100. Where the ink supplies 104 are separate fromthe printheads 106 and particularly where the ink supplies 104 areinternal to the inkjet-printing device 100, the inkjet cartridges 106may include just the ink supplies 104, such that the terminology“cartridge” and “supply” may be used interchangeably.

At least one ink supply 104 is of a different type from at least oneother ink supply 104. As noted above, for instance, the ink supplies 104may be of different colors, and thus of different types in this respect.Furthermore, at least one ink supply 104 is separately and independentlyreplaceable as compared to at least one other ink supply 104. Forexample, the ink supply 104A may be replaced within the inkjet-printingdevice 100 without having to also replace the ink supply 104B within thedevice 100, by replacing the inkjet cartridge 102A including the inksupply 104A without also replacing the cartridge 102B including the inksupply 104B.

The inkjet-printing device 100 includes an air pump 108. The air pump108 is fluidically connected to the ink supplies 104 and can be used toprime the ink supplies 104 when any ink supply 104 is replaced withinthe inkjet-printing device 100. Priming the ink supplies 104 in thisrespect can encompass removing any air or other gas introduced in thefluidic channels between an ink supply 104 and a corresponding printhead106 as a result of inserting the ink supply 104 within the device 100.The air pump 108 may be a suction-type pump 108 that suctions such airor other gas from the newly replaced ink supply 104. Priming an inksupply 104 via the air pump 108 results in depletion, removal, orconsumption of a small amount of ink from the ink supply 104.

In one implementation, the same air pump 108 is used to prime each inksupply 104 of the inkjet-printing device 100. Furthermore, in oneimplementation, the air pump 108 cannot selectively prime the inksupplies 104. That is, in this implementation, when any ink supply 104is primed, at least one other ink supply 104 is also primed. Forinstance, when the air pump 108 primes one ink supply 104, all the inksupplies 104 may also be primed. In this implementation, then, the airpump 108 may be unable to prime any ink supply 104 without priming atleast one other ink supply 104.

The inkjet-printing device 100 can include user interface hardware 110.The user interface hardware 110 can include one or more input devices,such as physical buttons, as well as switches, touchscreens, and so on,by which a user can provide input to the device 100. The user interfacehardware 100 can include one or more output devices, such as physicaldisplays, discrete light elements like light-emitting diodes (LEDs), aswell as speakers, and so on, by which the device 100 can provideinformation to the user.

The inkjet-printing device 100 can include communication hardware 112.The communication hardware 112 can include a communication interface bywhich the device 100 can receive print jobs from a directly connectedhost device, or a network interface by which the device 100 can receiveprint jobs from host devices communicatively connected to the samenetwork as the device 100. The communication hardware 112 may providefor wireless and/or wired communication. A host device can be acomputing device like a desktop or laptop computer, a tablet computingdevice, a smartphone, and so on, as well as a storage device like aflash drive.

The inkjet-printing device 100 includes hardware logic 114 which may beimplemented as a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storingprogram code. The hardware logic 114 may include a processor thatexecutes the program code. The hardware logic 114 may be an integratedcircuit (IC) like an application-specific IC (ASIC) or afield-programmable gate array (FPGA) that effectively implements theprogram code and that can be considered a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium in this respect as well.

FIG. 2 shows an example method 200 for ensuring that a user is notrequested in short succession to replace multiple ink supplies 104 ofthe inkjet-printing device 100. The method 200 can be performed by orotherwise implemented at the hardware logic 114 of the inkjet-printingdevice 100. The hardware logic 114 detects that an ink supply 104 hasbecome empty (202). For instance, the ink cartridge 102 including theink supply 104 may have a fluid sensor that detects when the amount offluid of the ink supply 104 has decreased to an amount that isconsidered empty, where this amount may be slightly more than zero(i.e., a small amount of ink). In another implementation, theinkjet-printing device 100 may have a separate fluid sensor withinfluidic coupling connected to the ink supply 104. The ink supply 104 maybecome empty while the inkjet-printing device 100 is printing a printjob to form images on media. The hardware logic 114 may detect that morethan one ink supply 104 has become empty in part 202.

In response to detecting that an ink supply 104 has become empty, thehardware logic 114 then detects in the method 200 that another,different ink supply 104 has an amount of ink less than a threshold(204). There may be more than one such other ink supply 104. Such an inksupply 104 is not considered as being empty. Rather, the amount of inkof the ink supply 104 is more than empty, but less than a threshold. Thethreshold may correspond to the amount of ink that is consumed duringpriming. The threshold amount of ink may thus be equal to the amount ofink that is depleted from an ink supply 104 when the inkjet-printingdevice 100 primes the supply 104.

In response to detecting that at least one ink supply 104 is empty inpart 202 and that at least one ink supply 104 has a non-empty ink amountless than a threshold in part 204, the hardware logic 114 performs anaction related to at least the one or more ink supplies having amountsof ink less than the threshold (206). Different implementations of part206 are described later in the detailed description. In general, theaction results in providing one notification that both the ink supply(or supplies) 104 detected as empty in part 202 and the ink supply (orsupplies) 104 detected as having non-empty ink amounts less than thethreshold in part 204 require replacement.

For instance, performance of the action in part 206 ensures that a useris not notified to replace an empty ink supply 104 (i.e., that which isdetected in part 202), only to be notified shortly after replacing thisink supply 104 to replace another ink supply 104 (i.e., that which isdetected in part 204). This scenario can occur when the latter inksupply 104 becomes empty during priming that is performed when the userreplaces the former ink supply 104 within the inkjet-printing device100. Notification that an ink supply 104 requires replacement andreplacement of the ink supply 104 can respectively encompassnotification that an ink cartridge 102 including the ink supply 104requires and replacement of such an ink cartridge 102.

The hardware logic 114 detects that the user has replaced one or moreink supplies 104 within the inkjet-printing device 100 (208). The useris likely to have replaced the ink supply 104 detected as empty in part202 and the ink supply 104 detected as having a non-empty ink amountless than the threshold in part 204, as a result of the action performedin part 206 including prompting to replace these ink supplies 104.Detection that an ink supply 104 has been replaced can include detectingthat an ink supply 104 has been removed from the inkjet-printing device100, and the insertion of a (new) ink supply 104. Detecting that an inksupply 104 has been replaced can include detecting that the amount ofink of the ink supply 104 has increased, which is presumed ascorresponding to the ink supply 104 having been replaced. Detecting thatan ink supply 104 has been replaced can be achieved in another manner aswell. For instance, the user may have to press a button theinkjet-printing device 100 to indicate that the ink supplies 104 havebeen replaced.

In response to detecting that one or more ink supplies 104 have beenreplaced within the inkjet-printing device 100, the hardware logic 114causes the air pump 108 to prime the ink supplies 104 (210). As notedabove, the air pump 108 may not be able to selectively prime the inksupplies 104, such that all the ink supplies 104 have to be primed ifany ink supply 104 is primed. Priming the ink supplies 104 removes airand other gas from the ink supplies 104, through fluidic channels suchas tubing, to the printheads 106. The air pump 108, for instance, may bea suction-type pump that suctions any bubbles of air or other gasintroduced within the ink in the inkjet-printing device 100 during inksupply replacement. As has been noted above, priming the ink supplies104 results in the consumption or depletion of a small amount of inkfrom the ink supplies 104.

Performing priming of the ink supplies 104 is different than performinga cleaning operation. A cleaning operation is generally performed toexpel any residual dry or other ink from the nozzles on the printheads106 that can prevent ink from being ejected through the nozzles duringprinting. Such residual ink can become stuck on the printheads 106, forinstance, when the inkjet-printing device 100 has remained unused for aninordinate length of time. Whereas priming may be performed just whenink supplies 104 are replaced within the inkjet-printing device 100,cleaning may be periodically performed or on an as-needed basis that maybe initiated by the user.

Priming uses the air pump 108, whereas cleaning may not. Rather,cleaning can be achieved by a spitting operation that forcibly ejects arelatively large volume of ink from the nozzles of the printheads 106.Cleaning can also involve moving the printheads 106 against a wiper, ora wiper against the printheads 106, in inkjet-printing devices 100 thatinclude a wiper. By comparison, priming may not involve any wipingaction. Priming and cleaning thus differ from one another in action,intention, and effect.

FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 respectively show different example methods 300, 400,and 500 that can be performed to implement part 206 of the method 200.In other implementations, the methods 300, 400, and 500 can beselectively combined in different ways. The methods 300, 400, and 500implement one or more actions that are performed responsive to detectionof an ink supply 104 that is empty and another ink supply 104 that isnot yet empty but that has less ink than a threshold.

In the method 300, the hardware logic 114 of the inkjet-printing device100 can initiate a servicing action to empty the ink supply 104 that hasan ink amount less than the threshold as detected in part 204 of themethod 200 (302). The servicing action can be the aforementionedcleaning or spitting operation. The servicing action of part 302 isperformed to empty the remaining ink from the ink supply 104.

Thereafter, the hardware logic 114 responsively messages the user thatthe empty ink supply 104 detected in part 202 of the method 200 and thenow-empty ink supply 104 detected in part 204 require replacement (304).For instance, the hardware logic 114 may sound an audible alert, and/ordisplay a notification on display hardware of the inkjet-printing device100. The hardware logic 114 may send a host device to which theinkjet-printing device 100 is connected a message indicating that theink supplies 104 in question are empty and require replacement.

In the method 400, the hardware logic 114 can immediately message theuser that the empty ink supply 104 detected in part 202 of the method200 and the near-empty ink supply 104 detected in part 204 requirereplacement (402). That is, the hardware logic 114 does not first emptythe near-empty ink supply 114 of ink as in part 304 of the method 300.As such, in part 402, the hardware logic 114 messages the user that inksupplies 104 detected in part 202 and 204 require replacement, eventhough the ink supply detected in part 202 is in fact not empty.

In the method 500, the hardware logic 114 may continue printing printjobs sent by host devices connected to the inkjet-printing device 100until the ink supply 104 detected in part 204 runs out of ink andbecomes empty (502), before messaging the user that the empty ink supply104 detected in part 202 of the method 200 and the now-empty ink supply104 detected in part 204 are empty and require replacement (504). Thatis, in the method 500, the hardware logic 114 refrains from messagingthat the ink supplies detected in parts 202 and 204 of the method 200require replacement until the ink supply detected in part 204 is alsoempty. The hardware logic 114 thus continues printing print jobs, suchas a current print job that may have resulted in the ink supply 104detected in part 202 becoming empty, even though this ink supply 104 isempty.

The techniques that have been described improve the user experience inthe scenario in which one ink supply of an inkjet-printing device isempty, and another ink supply is near empty and will likely become emptyonce priming occurs. The techniques improve the user experience byensuring that the user is more likely to replace both ink supplies atthe same time. That is, the user is notified or prompted to replace bothink supplies. As such, the user is not notified to replace one inksupply, only to be notified to replace another ink supply shortly afterthe former ink supply is replaced, due to priming causing the latter inksupply to also become empty. Although these techniques have beendescribed herein in relation to ink supplies of an inkjet-printingdevice, they are more generally applicable to fluid supplies of afluid-ejection device, regardless of whether the fluid supplies are partof cartridges that include fluid-ejection mechanisms, too.

We claim:
 1. A method comprising: detecting, by a fluid-ejection device,that a first fluid supply of the fluid-ejection device is empty and thata second fluid supply of the fluid-ejection device has a non-empty fluidamount less than a threshold corresponding to an amount of fluidconsumed during priming that is performed when a fluid supply isreplaced to ready the fluid supply for usage; responsively performing,by the fluid-ejection device, an action related to the second fluidsupply; subsequently detecting, by the fluid-ejection device, that thefirst and second fluid supplies have been replaced; and responsivelypriming, by the fluid-ejection device, the first and second fluidsupplies to ready the first and second fluid supplies for usage.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein performing the action comprises: performing aservicing action that depletes the non-empty fluid amount from thesecond fluid supply, the second fluid supply becoming empty; andsubsequently messaging that the first and second fluid supplies requirereplacement.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the actioncomprises: messaging that the first and second fluid supplies requirereplacement, the first fluid supply being empty and the second fluidsupply being non-empty.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein performing theaction comprises: performing printing of print jobs while the firstfluid supply is empty, until the second fluid supply is also empty; andsubsequently messaging that the first and second fluid supplies requirereplacement.
 5. A fluid-ejection device comprising: first and secondfluid supplies; a fluid-ejection mechanism to eject fluid from the firstand second fluid supplies; an air pump to prime the first and secondfluid supplies; and hardware logic to: detect that a first fluid supplyof the fluid-ejection device is empty and a second fluid supply of thefluid-ejection device has a non-empty fluid amount less than a thresholdcorresponding to an amount of fluid consumed during priming that isperformed when a fluid supply is replaced to ready the fluid supply forusage, and responsively perform an action related to the second fluidsupply; and subsequently prime the first and second fluid supplies usingthe air pump upon replacement of both the first and second fluidsupplies to ready the first and second fluid supplies for usage.
 6. Thefluid-ejection device of claim 5, wherein hardware logic is to performthe action related to the second fluid supply by: emptying the secondfluid supply; and subsequently messaging that the first and second fluidsupplies require replacement.
 7. The fluid-ejection device of claim 5,wherein performing the action comprises: messaging that the first andsecond fluid supplies require replacement even though the second fluidsupply is not empty.
 8. The fluid-ejection device of claim 5, whereinperforming the action comprises: refraining from messaging that thefirst and second fluid supplies require replacement until the secondfluid supply also becomes empty.
 9. The fluid-ejection device of claim5, wherein priming of the first fluid supply using the air pump resultsin the air pump also priming the second fluid supply, the air pumpunable to prime the first fluid supply without also priming the secondfluid supply.
 10. The fluid-ejection device of claim 9, wherein thefirst and second fluid supplies are of different types, and areseparately replaceable within the fluid-ejection device.
 11. Anon-transitory computer-readable data storage medium storing programcode executable by a fluid-ejection device to: when a first fluid supplyof the fluid-ejection device is empty and a second fluid supply of thefluid-ejection device has a non-empty fluid amount less than a thresholdcorresponding to an amount of fluid consumed during priming that isperformed when a fluid supply is replaced to ready the fluid supply forusage, perform an action related to the second fluid supply; and afterthe action has been performed and both the first and second fluidsupplies have been replaced, prime the first and second fluid suppliesto ready the first and second fluid supplies for usage.
 12. Thenon-transitory computer-readable data storage medium of claim 11,wherein the fluid-ejection device is to perform the action related tothe second fluid supply by: depleting the non-empty fluid amount fromthe second fluid supply, the second fluid supply becoming empty; andsubsequently messaging that the first and second fluid supplies requirereplacement.
 13. The non-transitory computer-readable data storagemedium of claim 11, wherein the fluid-ejection device is to perform theaction related to the second fluid supply by: messaging that the firstand second fluid supplies require replacement although the second fluidsupply is not empty.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readable datastorage medium of claim 11, wherein the fluid-ejection device is toperform the action related to the second fluid supply by: when thesecond fluid supply becomes empty, messaging that the first and secondfluid supplies require replacement, no messaging that the first fluidsupply requires replacement being performed until the second fluidsupply also becomes empty.